Finally, after such a bitter presidential election campaign, Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party won. Yoon won over Lee Jae-myung, a populist from the ruling left-of-center Minjoo party. With a tight margin, Yoon Suk-yeol started to take charge of leading the world’s tenth-largest economy.
But this would be the bad season for Mr. Suk-yeol to take charge. House pricing spikes, opportunities for the young are lacking. The government faces a trust issue. The country balances China and U.S. tensions, and tetchy relations with Japan, are some epitomes.
In the Russia-Ukraine invasion, South Korea has joined many developed countries to give sanctions. Mr. Yoon has communicated this with analysts in Seoul to take an important sanction alignment and nuclear negotiation with North Korea. The problem is South Korea sends almost a quarter of its commodities to China. So, the country’s commitment meets challenges to its Western partner.
The Economist suggests that the government should at least be less dependent on its developed neighbors. Perhaps it must seek other opportunities in Southeast Asia. Problems at home gets better solved during Mr. Moon’s period. Mr. Moon has tightened mortgage rules for dealing with house prices. Mr. Moon also has controlled the central bank’s raising rates.
What remains as the biggest nightmare domestically is the labor market. Mr. Yoon is expected to improve conditions by expanding unemployment insurance. He must also improve pension contributions. This includes loosening over-stringent protections for regular employees and improving women workers’ prospects.
The citizen sees Mr. Yoon’s party is lacking a majority in the National Assembly, while the president must work with his opponents. Despite continuing to stoke partisan division, he must raise to give a new example. This means he must be able to make Koreans feel that they are properly represented.
